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Watch at CCTV.com A backstage look at the Nutcracker December 14, 2014 CCTV.com by CCTV Watch at CCTV.com READ ARTICLE AT SOURCE Home / News / New Item

Season 2009-2010 George Balanchine Lucy Van Cleef in George Balachine's 'Serenade'; Photo: Reed Hutchinson George Balachine's 'Serenade'; Photo: Reed Hutchinson Andrew Brader in George Balachine's 'Serenade' Monica Pelfrey & Melissa Barak in George Balanchine's 'Serenade' Monica Pelfrey & Zheng Hua Li in George Balnchine's 'Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2' Grace McLoughlin & Zheng Hua Lo, and Endsemble in George Balnchine's 'Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2' George Balnchine's 'Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2' Grace McLoughlin, Melissa Barak, and Ensemble in George Balnchine's 'Kammermusik Piano Concerto No. 2' George Balnchine Drew Grant & Grace McLoughlin in George Balnchine's 'Kammermusik Piano Concerto No. 2' Chelsea Paige Johnston & Chehon Wespi-Tschopp in 'Wink' by Mandy Moore Mandy Moore Chelsea Paige Johnston & Chehon Wespi-Tschopp in 'Wink' by Mandy Moore Monica Pelfrey & Zheng Hua Li in "Reflect. Affect. Carry on...' by Travis Wall Alexander Forck, Chelsea Paige Johnston & Craig Hall in "Reflect. Affect. Carry on...' by Travis Wall Josie Walsh Josie Walsh Andrew Brader in 'Transmutation' by Josie Walsh Josie Walsh Grace McLoughlin in 'The Back and Forth' by Sonya Tayeh Kate Highstrete & Andrew Brader in 'The Back and Forth' by Sonya Tayeh Christensen/Neary Helena Thordal-Christensen in 'The Nutcracker' by Christensen/Neary Harrison Coll and Helena Thordal-Christensen in 'The Nutcracker' by Christensen/Neary Previous Gallery Next Gallery All photos by Reed Hutchinson Click on image for a fullscreen presentation.

Read at the Los Angeles Times 'The Nutcracker' from Los Angeles Ballet As Los Angeles Ballet matures, so too does its first full-length production... December 7, 2009 Los Angeles Times by Laura Bleiburg Read at the Los Angeles Times DOWNLOAD PDF Home / News / New Item

Attorney Jennifer Bellah Maguire was elected Chair of LAB Board of Directors on November 18, 2021. She joined the Los Angeles Ballet Board as a founding member in 2005, and has been a passionate advocate for building and sustaining the company. Jennifer Bellah Maguire Elected Chair of Los Angeles Ballet Board of Directors December 2, 2021 Company News from Brandon Lussier, LAB Executive Director On November 18, 2021 Jennifer Bellah Maguire was elected Chair of the Los Angeles Ballet Board of Directors. Jennifer Bellah Maguire’s life-long engagement with dance began with classical ballet training as a child. She continued by performing with the Princeton Ballet Society, Oakland Ballet and in contemporary dance at Bryn Mawr College. Ms. Bellah Maguire joined the Board of Los Angeles Ballet in 2005 as a founding member and has been a passionate advocate for building and sustaining a ballet company with the dimension and diversity of Los Angeles. Ms Bellah Maguire is a corporate Partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher where she has practiced throughout her career. She holds a bachelor of arts from Bryn Mawr College and was awarded a Watson Foundation Fellowship. Her law degree is from UC Berkeley. She also serves as a Trustee of Otis College of Art and Design and is a member of The Blue Ribbon. DOWNLOAD PDF Home / News / New Item

Los Angeles Ballet ended its benchmark 10th season in June as the first American company to dance Frederick Ashton’s distinctively intimate and poetic “Romeo and Juliet.” Unfortunately, that season left the company fiscally overextended, so the 11th season, which opened Saturday, has cutbacks in the roster and the repertory. Los Angeles Ballet At the Top of its Form October 20, 2016 Los Angeles Times by Lewis Segal Los Angeles Ballet ended its benchmark 10th season in June as the first American company to dance Frederick Ashton’s distinctively intimate and poetic “Romeo and Juliet.” Unfortunately, that season left the company fiscally overextended, so the 11th season, which opened Saturday, has cutbacks in the roster and the repertory. That’s disappointing, of course, but the situation forced artistic directors Thordal Christensen and Colleen Neary to capitalize on their bedrock artistic strengths in an invigorating program at the Alex Theatre in Glendale. From Christensen’s Danish birthright came August Bournonville’s antique Pas de Six and Tarantella from “Napoli.” From Neary’s career at New York City Ballet came an authoritative staging of George Balanchine’s wondrous “Stravinsky Violin Concerto.” The directors’ longstanding commitment to new work brought Canadian modernist Aszure Barton’s quirky, challenging “Untouched” to the program too. The celebratory Bournonville divertissement began with a classical abstraction of folklore and then unleashed a nonstop barrage of bouncy, heel-and-toe folk steps. Technical strain from the women and hard landings from the men marred the opening section. But those shortcomings soon yielded to spot-on contributions from the excellent Julia Cinquemani and Kenta Shimizu, as well as Javier Moya Romero and Madeline Houk (replacing the injured Allyssa Bross), plus a stellar newcomer, Tigran Sargsyan, able to project Bournonville style effortlessly at opera house scale. The “Napoli” excerpt also confirmed the growing importance of Dustin True, a versatile soloist previously seen in subsidiary roles but given major assignments in all three works Saturday. In the Bournonville and Barton pieces, you could admire his skill and spirit without feeling he’d outclassed his colleagues. But in the “Stravinsky Violin Concerto,” opposite Elizabeth Claire Walker (replacing Bross), the almost contemptuous force and sensuality of his dancing made it impossible to watch anyone else — even Shimizu and Cinquemani, efficient if subdued in their duet. In a tribute to his friendship with the composer, Balanchine initially reshuffled soloists and small ensembles, then explored two moody, intricate duets before launching a folk-accented finale requiring extraordinary precision from the whole cast. It is one of the prime neoclassic creations of the 20th century and, discounting a few lapses in stamina, the Los Angeles Ballet performance delivered its greatness impressively. Crammed with musical and movement eccentricity, Barton’s 2010 “Untouched” looked at the tensions between group identity and individual expression. For much of the work’s length, the title proved prophetic: Everyone danced in juxtaposition but with no contact. And even when fleeting interactions occurred, the participants remained untouched in a fundamental sense: locked in their own pain and processes. With everyone wearing Fritz Masten’s floral prints, the piece evoked an upscale party at which everyone expected relationships to form but nobody really connected. Along the way, newcomer Leah McCall dominated the stage in a dramatic solo, and Bianca Bulle endured partnering assaults stoically, but everyone in the 12-member cast took to Barton’s twisty, wiggly, off-kilter style as if ballet dancing always incorporated such oddities. Nicole Pearce designed the claustrophobic set (borrowed from Hubbard Street Dance Chicago). Obviously, few would rejoice at Los Angeles Ballet’s cutbacks. But the company’s value stayed resplendent Saturday with no need for more of anything — expect possibly live music. Indeed, this is why we need these dancers in Los Angeles, not for hand-me-down stagings of Russian warhorses but for sustaining the living legacy of modernism (even 19th-century modernism) that has distinguished it for the last decade. The L.A. Ballet program will visit other Southland venues in weeks to come; no doubt, other audiences will see what the Alex audience witnessed: an invaluable community resource suffering growing pains, perhaps, but still near the top of its game. ------------ Los Angeles Ballet In Redondo Beach: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 22 at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center, 1935 Manhattan Beach Blvd. In Westwood: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 29 at Royce Hall, UCLA Tickets: $29.50-$104 Info: (310) 998-7782, www.losangelesballet.org Follow The Times’ arts team @culturemonster. ALSO An ode to an avant-garde Japanese dance legend USC celebrates the opening of a $46-million building for dance 40 years of Martin Scorsese movies, mashed up as a concert-musical READ ARTICLE AT SOURCE Home / News / New Item

Kirsten Turkle began as a Stage Manager with Los Angeles Ballet in 2019 for The Nutcracker. In summer 2022, she was promoted to Production Manager and took up her new responsibilities with enthusiasm. Kirsten started life as a performer, taking ballet lessons from age 2 to 13. She was singing and dancing in community productions through elementary and middle school, as well as taking piano and voice lessons. In high school she began Stage Managing and learning the technical arts, including lighting, costuming, and scenic carpentry. At UC San Diego she founded a Shakespearian theater group and helped produce 8 plays during her college career, most notably Cymbeline and Hamlet. She moved to Los Angeles in 2013 and worked with many different companies and venues for the next decade, including The Wallis Annenberg Performing Arts Center, AGBU Vatche & Tamar Manoukian Performing Arts Center, Moving Arts, Jaxx Theatricals, and Royce Hall at UCLA. She looks forward to growing with Los Angeles Ballet, producing new works and classics, and touring this beautiful artform to even wider audiences. Production Manager Kirsten Turkle Kirsten Turkle began as a Stage Manager with Los Angeles Ballet in 2019 for The Nutcracker. In summer 2022, she was promoted to Production Manager and took up her new responsibilities with enthusiasm. Kirsten started life as a performer, taking ballet lessons from age 2 to 13. She was singing and dancing in community productions through elementary and middle school, as well as taking piano and voice lessons. In high school she began Stage Managing and learning the technical arts, including lighting, costuming, and scenic carpentry. At UC San Diego she founded a Shakespearian theater group and helped produce 8 plays during her college career, most notably Cymbeline and Hamlet. She moved to Los Angeles in 2013 and worked with many different companies and venues for the next decade, including The Wallis Annenberg Performing Arts Center, AGBU Vatche & Tamar Manoukian Performing Arts Center, Moving Arts, Jaxx Theatricals, and Royce Hall at UCLA. She looks forward to growing with Los Angeles Ballet, producing new works and classics, and touring this beautiful artform to even wider audiences. Home / Staff / Administrator

The Nutcracker 2019 LAB Ensemble Hannah Keene & Clay Murray Petra Conti, Tigran Sargsyan & LAB Ensemble Mackenzie Moser & LAB Ensemble Joshua Schwartz & Magnus Christoffersen LAB Ensemble Brittany Rand & Mackenzie Moser Laura Chachich & Magnus Christoffersen LAB Ensemble Mackenzie Moser Petra Conti & Eris Nezha LAB Ensemble Hannah Keene & Clay Murray Petra Conti, Tigran Sargsyan & LAB Ensemble Mackenzie Moser & LAB Ensemble Joshua Schwartz & Magnus Christoffersen LAB Ensemble Brittany Rand & Mackenzie Moser Laura Chachich & Magnus Christoffersen LAB Ensemble Mackenzie Moser Petra Conti & Eris Nezha LAB Ensemble Hannah Keene & Clay Murray Petra Conti, Tigran Sargsyan & LAB Ensemble Mackenzie Moser & LAB Ensemble Joshua Schwartz & Magnus Christoffersen LAB Ensemble Brittany Rand & Mackenzie Moser Laura Chachich & Magnus Christoffersen LAB Ensemble Mackenzie Moser Petra Conti & Eris Nezha Christensen and Neary / Tchaikovsky Previous Gallery Next Gallery All photos by Reed Hutchinson Click on image for a fullscreen presentation.

You will receive an email notifying you if audition spots are available. If so, you will be assigned the time for your audition, and a group number, and will be invited to submit your photos and CV. Pre-Registration Received You will receive an email notifying you if audition spots are available. If so, you will be assigned the time for your audition, and a group number, and will be invited to submit your photos and CV. Home / Audition Pre-Registration Received /

Swan Lake 2015 LAB Ensemble Allynne Noelle & Ulrik Birkkjaer Allynne Noelle & Rainer Krensetter Allyssa Bross, Kenta Shimizu & LAB Ensemble Chelsea Paige Johnston, Christopher Revels & LAB Ensemble Julia Cinquemani & Allyssa Bross Rainer Krensetter & Allynne Noelle Kenta Shimizu & Julia Cinquemani Allynne Noelle & Ulrik Birkkjaer Kenta Shimizu & Allyssa Bross Allynne Noelle & LAB Ensemble LAB Ensemble Julia Cinquemani & Kenta Shimizu Allynne Noelle & LAB Ensemble LAB Ensemble Allynne Noelle & Ulrik Birkkjaer Allynne Noelle & Rainer Krensetter Allyssa Bross, Kenta Shimizu & LAB Ensemble Chelsea Paige Johnston, Christopher Revels & LAB Ensemble Julia Cinquemani & Allyssa Bross Rainer Krensetter & Allynne Noelle Kenta Shimizu & Julia Cinquemani Allynne Noelle & Ulrik Birkkjaer Kenta Shimizu & Allyssa Bross Allynne Noelle & LAB Ensemble LAB Ensemble Julia Cinquemani & Kenta Shimizu Allynne Noelle & LAB Ensemble LAB Ensemble Allynne Noelle & Ulrik Birkkjaer Allynne Noelle & Rainer Krensetter Allyssa Bross, Kenta Shimizu & LAB Ensemble Chelsea Paige Johnston, Christopher Revels & LAB Ensemble Julia Cinquemani & Allyssa Bross Rainer Krensetter & Allynne Noelle Kenta Shimizu & Julia Cinquemani Allynne Noelle & Ulrik Birkkjaer Kenta Shimizu & Allyssa Bross Allynne Noelle & LAB Ensemble LAB Ensemble Julia Cinquemani & Kenta Shimizu Allynne Noelle & LAB Ensemble Christensen and Neary after Petipa and Ivanov / Tchaikovsky Previous Gallery Next Gallery All photos by Reed Hutchinson Click on image for a fullscreen presentation.

Los Angeles Ballet photo gallery presents a complete suite of season performance photos beginning with LAB’s inaugural season in 2005. Los Angeles Ballet performance photographer: Reed Hutchinson 2017/2018 Photo Gallery Swan Lake The Nutcracker Pushing Dance Photo Gallery / 2017/2018 Photo Gallery /

Highly pedigreed? You bet. Well-known in the dance world? No question. But Thordal Christensen and Colleen Neary have also passed the acid test: As directors of the Los Angeles Ballet, now in its sixth season, they can take a collective bow for their thoroughly sterling production of “Swan Lake.” Los Angeles Ballet's 'Swan Lake' is full of grace March 12, 2012 Glendale News-Press by Donna Perlmutter Highly pedigreed? You bet. Well-known in the dance world? No question. But Thordal Christensen and Colleen Neary have also passed the acid test: As directors of the Los Angeles Ballet, now in its sixth season, they can take a collective bow for their thoroughly sterling production of “Swan Lake.” Just remember, not any old company can stage this icon of classical ballet. Oh, many with lesser artistic resources try. But to put on a show of so fine a caliber normally takes a bigger-than-big budget, dancer bench-depth, masterly and dedicated coaching. What’s more, they mounted their full-length extravaganza with the requisite number of performances. “And that meant we had to find venues all over the city.” says Christensen, who led the eminent Royal Danish Ballet and is steeped in its standards of style and rigorous technique. “We had to travel to the audiences,” he adds, noting that people will venture out to an attraction, so long as it doesn’t mean long drives through congested traffic. So from Westwood to Long Beach, with a stop at the Alex Theatre on March 17, the company is showing off its current jewel, “Swan Lake,” all feathery finery, moonlit mirages, pathos born of misfortune, good-versus-evil conflict. Thus the mountain comes to Muhammad. And it is a mountain, what with the full-scale sets originally built at Pacific Northwest Ballet, Christensen’s last post before he decamped to Los Angeles. “In fact,” says the Danish-born danseur, “when you think about it, it’s madness, dealing with four separate acts. We’ve had to extend intermission lengths just to do the set changes,” and that took the crew a week of practice just to learn how to move things along faster, he added. But the décor is eminently beautiful, old-school poetic without looking old — or worn — and it accommodates to any standard proscenium. The costumes, too, are delicate pastels, setting off the pristine-white lakeside scenes. What catches attention, though, apart from these details, is the totality of the spectacle — the dancers’ total immersion in the action and feeling states, be they coryphees, peasants, courtiers, royalty. As to the coaching, well, it is meticulous — in contrast, even, to some A-circuit “Swan Lake” productions, like the last one American Ballet Theatre brought on tour to L.A., where we saw casts that suffered rehearsal deficits. In their prime, both Christensen and Neary danced the lead roles many times. With his deep background in Bournonville, not to mention her prominence as a member of the Balanchine Trust, it’s no surprise that the choreography they adapted from the Petipa/Ivanov model is wonderfully evocative and rational. So, too, is the mime clear, uncluttered and natural — a feat in itself for American dancers seldom exposed to courtly behavior. But then the troupe’s roster now stands higher than ever in its level of virtuosity — thanks mostly to Neary’s recruitment of dancers from companies on which she has set Balanchine works, among them ABT and Russia’s Mariinsky, formerly the Kirov. Still, holding on to them is difficult. “We lose roughly a third each year,” says LAB executive director Julie Whittaker. “But that’s par for the course with all companies.” Corina Gill was stolen by the Boston Ballet, she recalls. And some leave because of the low salaries. “Most of our dancers stay, though. The trick is to keep them performing and not laid off for any substantial period of time.” So far, artistry runs the gamut at Los Angeles Ballet. It also keeps the wheel turning. And this “Swan Lake” does the trick. DONNA PERLMUTTER is an ASCAP-Award winning music/dance critic and journalist whose work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times and many other publications. She is also the author of “Shadowplay: The Life of Antony Tudor.” Email her at donna.perlmutter@gmail.com . DOWNLOAD PDF Home / News / New Item

Modern Moves 2018 Petra Conti & Clay Murray Petra Conti, Tigran Sargsyan, Leah McCall Petra Conti, Tigran Sargsyan & LAB Ensemble Kenta Shimizu & LAB Petra Conti, Tigran Sargsyan & Kenta Shimizu Clay Murray, Costache Mihai Clay Murray & LAB Ensemble Bianca Bulle & Tigran Sargsyan Bianca Bulle & LAB Ensemble Jasmine Perry & Joshua Brown Leah McCall & Joshua Brown Jasmine Perry Kenta Shimizu & LAB Ensemble Clay Murray, Magnus Christoffersen & Jeongkon Kim LAB Ensemble Eris Nezhao: Reed Hutchinson Laura Chachich, Eris Nezha & LAB Ensemble Petra Conti & Eris Nezha Bianca Bulle & Tigran Sargsyan Petra Conti & Eris Nezha inale, LAB Petra Conti & Clay Murray Petra Conti, Tigran Sargsyan, Leah McCall Petra Conti, Tigran Sargsyan & LAB Ensemble Kenta Shimizu & LAB Petra Conti, Tigran Sargsyan & Kenta Shimizu Clay Murray, Costache Mihai Clay Murray & LAB Ensemble Bianca Bulle & Tigran Sargsyan Bianca Bulle & LAB Ensemble Jasmine Perry & Joshua Brown Leah McCall & Joshua Brown Jasmine Perry Kenta Shimizu & LAB Ensemble Clay Murray, Magnus Christoffersen & Jeongkon Kim LAB Ensemble Eris Nezhao: Reed Hutchinson Laura Chachich, Eris Nezha & LAB Ensemble Petra Conti & Eris Nezha Bianca Bulle & Tigran Sargsyan Petra Conti & Eris Nezha inale, LAB Les Chambres des Jacques – Barton / Vigneault, Vivaldi, Les Yeux Noirs, The Cracow Klezmer Band, Lickety Split – Cerrudo / Banhart, Western Symphony – Balanchine / American Songs Orchestrated by Kay Previous Gallery Next Gallery All photos by Reed Hutchinson Click on image for a fullscreen presentation.